Finally in battle order, elected Republicans launched their crusade in Congress on Tuesday against the administration of President Joe Biden, with the establishment of a commission to investigate … its investigators.
• Read also: In the US Congress, first test for Kevin McCarthy
The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has approved the creation of a “special commission on the instrumentalization” of federal agencies.
According to the adopted resolution, this panel will investigate how “the executive branch collects information on American citizens, including in ongoing criminal investigations”. In the viewfinder: federal prosecutors, the FBI, the tax services…
Donald Trump’s allies do not hide that it is a question of questioning the reasons which justified the opening of the numerous investigations into the former Republican president, which relate in particular to his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6. 2021 or its management of the White House archives.
The Ministry of Justice and the federal police “have been instrumentalized by the Biden administration against its opponents, in particular during the unprecedented raid on President Trump’s house”, declared the elected Élise Stefanik, in reference to the search carried out in August at his home in Florida.
The establishment of this commission was at the heart of the demands of elected Trumpists who blocked for four days last week the election of Kevin McCarthy as “speaker”.
Thanks to this arm wrestling, unseen for more than 160 years, “we obtained more resources, more precision and more power to target the recalcitrant government of Biden” boasted one of the slingers, Chip Roy, on Fox News.
“Plot”
According to him, the new body will have the same room for maneuver as the “commission of inquiry into January 6, 2021”, with a Democratic majority. The latter exposed, during ultra-high-profile hearings, the responsibility of Donald Trump in the attack on the Capitol, before recommending that he be prosecuted criminally.
Similarly, the new panel, which is expected to be led by the pugnacious Jim Jordan, will be able to issue subpoenas and subpoenas to all state agencies and their representatives, who will obligation to comply.
The Department of Justice should, however, seek, as is customary, to protect the confidentiality of its investigations, especially those that are still ongoing.
Before the vote, the elected Democrat Jerry Nadler denounced “a dangerous attack against the agencies responsible for enforcing the law”.
For him, this commission will be able to carry out “endless investigations into any conspiracy theory in view in far-right circles” and use “its broad powers to protect Donald Trump” and his allies.
Afghanistan, Migrants and Hunter
This commission is only the first of a long series. Right after his election, on the 15th round of voting, Kevin McCarthy promised to scrutinize President Joe Biden’s record.
He referred to investigations into the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan or the migration policy on the border with Mexico, where migrant arrivals are at historic levels.
Republicans also want to look at Democrats’ handling of the Covid pandemic, including restrictions they say have hurt the US economy and infringed on American freedoms.
On a more personal level, they are threatening to open an investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden, accused of using his father’s name to do business in Ukraine and China.
House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries accused them of wanting to create “revenge hearings” disconnected from the concerns of Americans.